Mayo Clinic partners with advocacy organizations
Mayo Clinic researchers -- in partnership with numerous national mental health advocacy organizations -- are issuing new simple-to-understand tools to help identify youth who may have mental health disorders.
Issuing these tools is consistent with the Office of the U.S. Surgeon General call in 2001 to develop a set of easily identifiable mental health disorder warning signs among youth for use by parents, professionals and community members.
Despite well-documented levels of emotional and behavioral concerns in the nation's youth, studies have repeatedly shown that up to 75 percent of youth with mental health disorders such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), bipolar disorder, anxiety, and eating disorders are usually not identified, and youth do not receive the care they need.
After surveying more than 6,000 parents and children about mental health services in the United States during the past decade, researchers created a mental health disorder Action Signs tool kit to help easily identify symptoms for youth who may be experiencing mental disorders. Click here for a copy. The findings and epidemiology that led to the toolkit are published in the journal Pediatrics on Friday, Oct. 28, 2011.
Study researchers and youth mental health experts will discuss the new tools during a phone press conference on Oct. 28 at 10 a.m. EDT.
Phone/press conference information
At 9:45 a.m. EDT, call 1-800-705-4155 (toll-free) to get access to the conference. At 10 a.m., each speaker will be introduced and have a brief opportunity to discuss the new mental health Action Signs tool kit. A facilitator will moderate a Q-and-A with news reporters.
For those who plan to attend the conference in person, the site is the National Alliance on Mental Illness Headquarters, 3803 N. Fairfax Drive, Suite 100, Arlington, VA 22203.
Please RSVP if you plan to attend or call in.
Speakers/researchers available during the press conference
Peter Jensen, M.D, Mayo Clinic -- primary investigator of the findings, Action Signs
Gary Blau, Ph.D., Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration -- Child, Adolescent and Family Branch
Lisa Hunter Romanelli, Ph.D., executive director of the Resource for Advancing Children's Health (REACH) Institute
Darcy Gruttadaro, J.D., director of the Child & Adolescent Action Center at National Alliance on Mental Health Illness
Representatives from the National Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the American Academy of Pediatrics
Provided by Mayo Clinic